QuitNet, World’s Largest Online Smoking Cessation Program, Can Help Kick the Habit During The Great American Smokeout...and Long Term
For those who have been thinking about quitting smoking, The Great American Smokeout is a perfect time to get started, and smoking cessation programs, like Healthways QuitNet, are there to support and motivate throughout this process.
(Vocus) November 14, 2007
This Thursday, Nov. 15, is The Great American Smokeout – a day smokers are encouraged to give up smoking for 24 hours in the hope that realizing this small goal will help enable them to quit for good. Smoking has been recognized as the single most preventable cause of premature death in America – tobacco use is responsible for more than 440,000 deaths in the US each year, and costs the nation more than $75 billion in direct medical expenses and $82 billion in lost productivity.
For those who have been thinking about quitting smoking], The Great American Smokeout is a perfect time to get started, and smoking cessation programs, like Healthways QuitNet, are there to support and motivate throughout this process. QuitNet’s website (www. quitnet. com)] is host to a thriving online community of thousands of smokers and ex-smokers who support each other with practical tips and celebrations of milestones.
After only one day without smoking, there are already immediate health benefits:
Just 20 minutes after your last cigarette, your blood pressure and pulse rate drops to nearly the level it was before that cigarette, and the body temperature of your hands and feet increases. 8 hours after your last cigarette, carbon monoxide levels in your blood drops to normal and the oxygen level in your blood increases to normal. 24 hours after your last cigarette, your chance of a heart attack decreases.
Some strategies to be smoke-free for good:
Change habits that you associate with smoking. If you typically smoke while talking on the phone, talk in a different room, hold the phone in the other hand, or sit in a different chair. If you usually smoke while sitting in your favorite chair, avoid that chair for a while. Keep busy. Take up a hobby, go to the movies, go for a walk, work around the house, call or visit friends, write letters, read a book … the possibilities are endless. Keep your hands and mouth occupied. Try sugarless mints or gum, toothpicks, sunflower seeds, carrot and celery sticks, crushed ice, or water. QuitNet members find that typing messages keeps their fingers busy and gets them support during a strong craving.
About Healthways
Healthways (NASDAQ: HWAY), www. healthways. com], is the leading provider of specialized, comprehensive Health and Care SupportSM solutions to help millions of people maintain or improve their health and, as a result, reduce overall healthcare costs. Healthways' programs are designed to help healthy individuals stay healthy, mitigate and slow the progression of disease associated with family or lifestyle risk factors and promote the best possible health for those already affected by disease. Our proven, evidence-based programs provide highly specific and personalized interventions for each individual in a population, irrespective of age or health status, and are delivered to consumers by phone, mail, internet and face-to-face interactions, both domestically and internationally. Healthways also provides a national, fully accredited complementary and alternative Health Provider Network, offering convenient access to individuals who seek health services outside of, and in conjunction with, the traditional healthcare system.
Contact:
Melissa Gibbs
615-565-5957 (o)
615-495-4681 (c)
Melissa. gibbs @ healthways. com
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